1. Field of the Description
The present invention relates, in general, to amusement park rides and passenger restraints in such rides and other implementations, and, more particularly, to a passenger restraint system for an amusement park ride in which the passengers are provided with upright and straddle-type seating (e.g., as if riding a motorcycle or similar vehicle) in which their feet are free to dangle (e.g., in a floorless ride vehicle) or other vehicles where leg containment is not provided with the vehicle's body/shell and/or seat design. The restraint system includes a lap bar assembly configured to provide side or lateral constraint of a ride passenger's legs when the lab bar assembly is placed in (or operated to be in) the down or engaged position.
2. Relevant Background
Passenger restraints such as lap bars are used throughout the amusement park industry to safely and securely restrain passengers within a seat of a vehicle. For example, many amusement park rides provide themed rides in which vehicles ride along on one or more tracks, and the passengers are restrained from standing up or leaving the vehicle by a lap bar that is positioned across their laps or provided over their shoulders as an overhead or similar restraint.
During loading in some rides, the lap bar is positioned against the passenger by a ride operator that is pressing a foot lever to allow adjustment of the position of the lap bar relative to the passengers. Once in position, the operator releases the foot lever or pedal to lock the lap bar in this ride or down position. When the ride is over, the vehicle may pass over a portion of the track with a release mechanism causing the lap bar to become unlocked from the ride position. The lap bar then may spring to an open or up position. In other lap bar designs, the lap bar, which may be U-shaped or T-shaped, may be pulled by the passenger toward their lap from a forward position or from a rearward position over their heads (a lap bar restraint with a rear rotating assembly). Once in a securing position close to the passenger's lap, the lap bar assembly may be locked or engaged in position until the end of the ride.
There are a number of concerns with these conventional lap bar assemblies when applied to ride vehicles that utilize upright, straddle-type seating of passengers such as rides that simulate motorcycles, futuristic bikes, and the like. For example, one goal of ride designers is to ensure the passengers' safety throughout the ride, and the ride vehicle may be designed with a body that provides fixed and rigid shields to provide forward and side protection and containment of the passengers' legs. In such cases, the passengers typically have to step over the straddle-type seat and slide their legs into the fixed leg shields or constraints. Then, the lap bar, often a T-shaped bar or an over-the-shoulder bar, is pulled into place. While providing leg constraint and passenger safety, the use of rigid (or fixed-in-place) leg constraints often results in a bulky ride that feels “closed” and is heavily shrouded. Such ride vehicles also may produce slow passenger loading. Some vehicle rides also include rigid behind-the-knee pins to limit backward movement of the passengers' legs once they are seated on the straddle-type seat. In many cases, though, these fixed pins provide another obstacle that has to be avoided or maneuvered around during loading and unloading, which can slow this process and also make it more awkward for the passengers.
Similarly, these ride vehicles may include deep footwells on both sides of the straddle-type seat to protect the passengers' legs and feet and to capture the passengers' footwear should it fall off during the ride. While being effective for these functions, deep footwells can make the ride vehicles more difficult to load and unload as the passengers have to step down into the footwell and swing the leg up and over the seat prior to positioning their lap bar restraint. This can increase the load and unload time and also can result in some accidents as passengers lose their balance. Hence, it would be desirable to provide an amusement park ride vehicle with a passenger restraint system that facilitates an open or minimally shrouded ride vehicle while also facilitating fast loading and unloading of passengers to facilitate higher ride throughputs.
There are a number of ride vehicles that have been designed with a more open design (e.g., with less shrouding) and have been used to provide motorcycle or bike-type ride experiences. Some of these ride vehicles have utilized a passenger restraint that is pivotally mounted at the rear portion of the ride vehicle. Once a passenger is positioned on the straddle-type seat, the restraint can be lowered into a locked position. In some cases, though, these restraints have been used in vehicles in which the passenger is placed in a prone position instead of an upright position, but many rear-mounted restraint designs are not applicable to ride vehicles in which the passengers sit upright.
Further, these rear-mounted restraint systems have typically been used in rides where the length of each vehicle or each vehicle's longitudinal envelope can be relatively large. This is because the train of such vehicles has to be designed to allow a large space between adjacent vehicles so that the restraint can be rotated up and away from passenger at the end of the ride for unloading (and then loading of the next passenger). As a result, these rear-mounted restraints often are not useful or desirable for amusement park rides in which the designer is required to meet a tight or small longitudinal envelope, e.g., where a ride designer is required to keep the passenger space of each vehicle short to allow more passengers to fit on a train of ride vehicles.
In other ride vehicles, it often is difficult to provide lateral leg containment in a ride vehicle specifically designed to allow the passenger's feet to freely dangle. For example, many roller coasters include “vehicles” with bodies that have no floors or bases to support the passenger's feet, and, in some cases, the passengers may sit in an upright position straddling a center podium (e.g., in a ride simulating a flying, futuristic jet cycle or the like). Leg containment within a predefined safety envelope is often more important or limiting in ride design than the arm envelope with regards to passenger safety, and this is especially true in rides without vehicle floors or bases. Presently, most ride and vehicle designers attempt to provide lateral leg containment in floorless or baseless vehicles through specially designed vehicle bodies or shells or unique seat designs, but this can lead to a more enclosed vehicle that fails to provide the open and free dangling feel desired for baseless/floorless vehicles. Alternatively, safety is provided by assuming a much larger reach envelope for the vehicle along its ride path, but this is undesirable as it increases the space needed for the ride and/or limits scenery and set design for the ride (e.g., no near-collision experiences or nearby passing set elements along the ride path).
Hence, there remains a need for a passenger restraint system that is suited for maintaining passenger safety including providing proper leg constraint for passengers that are seated in an upright position on a straddle-type seat in a floorless vehicle or in other vehicles where lateral leg containment is not provided by the vehicle body or seat design. Further, such passenger restraint systems preferably would be suited for rides with shorter trains or with relatively tight or small longitudinal envelopes provided for passenger seating and with little space between adjacent vehicles in the train. Still further, it is desirable for the passenger restraint to facilitate fast loading and unloading of passengers while also meeting other functional goals such as providing capture of footwear.